Who's without power in DC Area?

28 Aug 2011 | 11th_VA

[stranger and pilgrim]

“Yeah, according to the map, most of MISSOURI is without power.”

That’s just because we’re a bunch of hillbillies here. Hell, most of us don’t even have shoes.

[UCANSEE2]

That’s just because we’re a bunch of hillbillies here. Hell, most of us don’t even have shoes.

Funny... that's just what my sister.... I mean my wife just said.

[Publius6961]

Who's without power in DC Area?

I am, I am!
I am a working American net taxpayer!
But according to the business-as-usual elected criminals, I don't exist.

Wait.
You meant electricity, didn't you.

...never mind...

[UCANSEE2]

I have to admit I have a cordless screwdriver. Doesn't use batteries . Almost identical to this one. At least 50 years old, and still works like a champ. Had the same phillips head bit in it for 50 years and hasn't worn down yet.

And a cordless drill. No batteries needed either. Similar to this, and at least 50 years old.

For bigger work I have this cordless tool.

For auto work, I have one like this, but about 30 years (or more) old.

[KC Burke]

When my Dad passed away at 90, my sister saved his Yankee Screwdriver for me knowing how I had always praised its utility.

[UCANSEE2]

First, I understood the situation. Power was down in a large multi-metro area. They staged their crews from central distribution points and worked outwards. Going backwards was deemed inefficient, and therefore the crews went further away and wouldn't return until they finished their 'primary' assignment.

I told the Electric Phone Rep. that. I asked them to just have someone ON THEIR WAY to an outlying area take FIVE MINUTES to stop by and kick this breaker back in.

You see, everyone else in the entire CITY, except my side of the street, and my backyard neighbors up and down the next street, had their power on.

I had to drive DOWNTOWN that Sunday Morning, and there was not a ELECTRIC UTILITY truck anywhere to be seen, and everything was lit up.

All the crews had gone to the South, to another city (considered part of the huge metroplex) to finish getting power back.

The problem I had was the people at the POWER company that I spoke to either made excuses, or denied that our power was left off for no reason (except the laziness of a certain LINEMAN who wanted to go home early, and lied to the TREE CUTTING CREW and the TELEPHONE UTILITY GUY who were waiting on him).

Now, Am I black? I could be. It's pretty easy because you can check anything on the census form, and black is a culture, not a species or even a race.

But no. I live in a predominantly white residential area.

I'll let you guess which 'culture' the lineman belonged to. I got the 'jist' from his conversation, that if the Tree Cutting crew didn't show up quickly, he wasn't hanging around.

Maybe he was dispatched somewhere else, and none of this was his fault. But I asked the reps at the ELECTRIC company to check and see if this was the case, and they refused to do so.

[Publius6961]

Without power, how do you contact them?

We really old people have Victorian devices that use separate wires.
They are called Telli-phones.

It has always continued working when the power goes...

[UCANSEE2]

What amazes me is that this Yankee Screwdriver (it was my dad's) was put through hell for years and years. My Dad and I installed storm doors and windows (that was just ONE of his part-time jobs). I used that thing from the time I was maybe 14. I have hammered on it, dropped it from top of a ladder, and it was without lube for years, sitting in the basement. And it still works perfectly.

My Dad had some other 'newer' Yankee screwdrivers. None of them work worth a darn. And they hardly ever got used.

I have a bunch of battery powered tools. Either the batteries or the chargers died, and... they sit in the basement, useless, and outdated.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

This won’t help your area, but it may help someone else....
Report Outages:
Outages from Dominion Virginia Power
866-DOM-HELP (866-366-4357)
Rappahannock Electric Cooperative:
800-552-3904
Southside Electric Cooperative:
666-878-5514.

---

BTW: Maybe you can ask the mods to change this thread to a Help Contact Number Thread might help other freepers in other states. :)

[Publius6961]

One of the benefits of the newer automatic meter reading systems is that there will never be a need to notify the utility that your power is off.

A common (and potentially fatal) misconception. Those fancy remote reading meters are for the company's convenience only; to bill you.

They are NOT continuously scanned to check which may be working or not.

So yes, we must still call them to report an outage, which we have done a few times when an underground transformer blew its top.
They can only determine how extensive the outage is by the number and locations of the phone calls they receive.

(PG&E - California)

[UCANSEE2]

Allow me to personally apologize for your inconvenience.

That was damn nice of you, stranger(or pilgram).

But totally unnecessary.

[KC Burke]

Garret Wade has a pin drill and now imports a german made Yankee update with a hex chuck
http://www.garrettwade.com/improved-yankee-style-screwdrivers/p/08C03.01/

[UCANSEE2]

According to radio, including me, there’s 170,001 customers without power in DC area

Here in the midwest, that happens to us about 2 or 3 times each summer.

I feel for you, as I have experienced being without power and how it alters/interrupts the daily routine.

Thank God that so few people have been hurt of died.

[KC Burke]

you might also like this
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/products.asp?dept=370

[UCANSEE2]

That looks very nice.

Mine says it was made by NORTH BROS MFG CO. And... to show how old it is, says MADE IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

[UCANSEE2]

I have several of those alternate use bits , similar but very old, that fit my Yankee. I could not even begin to describe , or list, the old tools, bits, metal cutting, metal boring, wood shaping, router, and tools I can’t even figure out what they were used for, that my Dad left me.

[KC Burke]

North Bros made the originals/
A company long gone.

[Arlis]

Thankfully, Dominion Virginia Power is nothing like what you describe....professional, very helpful & responsive. Line crews have always expressed their appreciation for my informantion and guidance.

That could be because of my electrical background, but I rather think it is from my familiarity and knowledge of their circuitry in my area.

[UCANSEE2]

I assure you that most employees of the local power utility company are similar to those in your area.

There are such things as 'a few bad apples' in every bunch.

It may have just been due to the 'system'. Unions/work schedules/no OT without permission/large scale outage planning.... many things could have caused the 'lack of completion' of returning power to our one 'block', and not just the lineman personally.

Other than our particular 'extended outage', I heard the Utility company did an outstanding job restoring power considering the scope of the problem.

The original reason for my mentioning this was to support the comments of posters who thought they SHOULD call in as soon as possible during an outage, instead of assuming the Utility company somehow 'knows' exactly where power is out.